Existing energy management domains have been developed independently of other energy management domains. Each domain can comprise multiple systems that each has its own set of unique architectures and solutions. Within a domain of expertise, such as power monitoring or building management, networked components communicate with one another using a disparate array of protocols, communication and network standards, and application interfaces, which require middleware or other custom solutions to allow intra-domain compatibility among different components. Each system is optimized within its own management domain, often using rudimentary solutions that will not work in other management domains. As a result, valuable information that could be gleaned from a cross-domain perspective cannot be realized. In addition, these custom-optimized systems are time-consuming and expensive to deploy and manage, require extensive and particularized operator training, and require external coordination among different system managers to diagnose a problem or increase efficiency in the system, among other problems. In other words, the non-integration of existing domains is contributing to energy inefficiency and waste, decreased safety, health, and security, and economic stagnation. To date, only short-term solutions are created within a particular management domain and do not attempt to integrate with other management domains because there is no standardization among the components, creating a large disincentive to integrate.
For example, approximately 1.5-2% of the total power consumed by the U.S. is consumed by data centers, and only a small part of that power is actually used. The rest is wasted. A data center is housed in a building, but the building and the data center management systems are developed and implemented separately. A building also has a power monitoring system that monitors power and other electrical characteristics of power-consuming devices in the building. Each of these systems uses devices and components that cannot communicate with one another and that are optimized to work within their own management domain (in the case of a data center, a white space management domain, in the case of a power monitoring system a power management domain, and in the case of a building, a building comfort management domain). For example, data centers typically use highly specialized air conditioners to cool the servers and other heat-sensitive components, and the chilled water used by the data center air conditioners is produced by a chiller that typically resides outside of the building that houses the data center. That same chiller also produces chilled water that is used by the building to create a comfortable environment within the other areas inside the building beyond the data center. The chiller is managed by the building management system, and therefore the white space management system that manages the data center is unaware of important information about the chiller. When a chiller fails, the building management system will be notified, but it is often more critical for the data center to be informed about a chiller failure, as overheating can damage the sensitive electronic equipment in a data center.
The non-integration of the power, white space, and building management systems prevents a facility operator from understanding where the inefficient components in the facility are, or from pinpointing how and where energy is being consumed and wasted within a facility, to name a few shortcomings. Without a “bird's eye” perspective on the entire facility, valuable and critical information is lost and cannot be easily presented to and visualized by the operator.
What is needed, therefore, among other things, is a paradigmatic shift in how different management domains are developed and deployed. The present disclosure fulfills these and other needs.